


The World Ended

by fire_underwater



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Apocalypse, Crenny, Immortal Kenny McCormick, Immune Kenny McCormick, Kenny McCormick-centric, M/M, Mild Gore, Mild Sexual Content, Survival, Violence, horror themes, non-binary Wendy Testaburger, south park k2, the goth kids are all gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-24 05:24:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21332971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fire_underwater/pseuds/fire_underwater
Summary: Kenny is an immortal teenager, wondering the Arizona desert on his own, in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, when he meets Stan and Kyle.Kenny’s goal it to reach New York and hopefully find civilisation, on his journey across the country he’ll fight off undead hordes, find friendship and love, and deal with the horrible reality of his immortal curse.
Relationships: Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak, Kenny McCormick/Craig Tucker, Kenny McCormick/Leopold "Butters" Stotch, Kyle Broflovski/Kenny McCormick, Kyle Broflovski/Stan Marsh, Stan Marsh/Wendy Testaburger
Comments: 1
Kudos: 41





	The World Ended

Kenny wondered what would happen if he triggered the obvious trap he’d come across in a small town just outside of Tucson, Arizona. 

The trap was weight activated and poorly hidden in the sand. From what he could tell the idea was to get someone to stand on the trigger and a rock would fall from the adjacent building and smash into the victim. It was clever, in a primitive sort of way. 

He wasn’t sure if it was meant for a human, an animal or a zombie. He decided to rule out humans as a potential prey, no one would be dumb enough to fall for something like this. 

That was good because it ruled out canibals in the area. 

It still left Kenny with the task of finding whoever set the trap. 

It was recent because the wind hadn’t moved the sand completely over the trigger rope. 

Normally Kenny didn’t seek out other people, but he was in a desperate situation. He was out of food, water and ammunition. 

He had starved to death before, it wasn’t a fun way to go. It was slow and painful, he could feel his body eating away every last inch of muscle he had. 

He’d sooner let that rock crush him than die like that again.

And in the Arizona heat, he didn’t have a lot hope on his own for much longer. 

There were other signs of human activity in the town. Bon fire remains, shade tarps set up on the Main Street. Those were probably from a while ago, when the infection first started to spread. 

But Kenny had also found signs of recent movement. 

Recent enough to know that there were people hiding in this town somewhere, he just had slim hop of finding them. 

It was mid day. The sun was blazing down. No one in their right mind would venture outside. There was no hope of finding food or water in this heat until nightfall. 

Kenny didn’t have until nightfall. He was dying. It felt like his stomach was collapsing in and digesting itself, his bones were both brittle and nearly visible through his skin, protected by no muscle and his lungs could hardly stand the effort of breathing. 

He had to trigger this trap. His best hope was someone coming to check it and finding him. Dead or alive, eventually he’d be able to steal whatever food and water they had. 

He cringed instinctively waiting for the impact as he dug the heal of his boot onto the string. It snapped and the rock came hurtling towards him. 

He felt it collide with his face, breaking the skin, and then killing him as he blacked out.

-

His senses came back slowly as his body healed itself. 

First he felt the cool night air on his skin and realised it had taken him at least the rest of the day to regenerate. 

He was no longer malnourished, dehydrated or weak. His injuries closed up and his bones regained their strength.

But he was still in the middle of nowhere on an empty stomach. The process of starvation had already restarted its clock. 

He took in a big gulp of air, opening his violet blue eyes to find a pair of people poking him with the handle end of a shovel. 

“How the hell are you alive?” The poker asked. He was a tall, skinny red head in a green tank top, battle torn jeans and combat boots. 

Behind him stood a black haired boy in a blue t-shirt and black shorts. He had converse on that were badly worn out and full of sand.

Kenny sat up slowly, noticing the dried puddle of blood in the sand from were his head had been cracked open. The rock lay beside it, also splashed with blood and gore from his earlier death. 

“I ducked?” Kenny tried weakly with an awkward smile. 

The red head didn’t seem impressed but he could’ve sworn the blue shirt boy cracked a brief, confused smile.

“Who the hell are you? What are you doing here setting off our traps for no reason?” The red head snapped.

Kenny smiled again. Clearly they’d elected to ignore the murder scene and pretend that he’d just set of their trap without getting hit and then took a nap in the dirt. 

That was the thing about his curse. Even when it didn’t make any sense, people would do mental gymnastics to avoid the realisation of his immortality.

“I was looking for people, anyone with food or water.” Kenny stood up dusting himself off.

“How’d you even get out here without supplies? It’s a four day walk to the next town any way you go.” Blue shirt finally spoke.

“It doesn’t matter. You need to fuck off before you start attracting zombies or other dickheads.” The red head snapped at Kenny.

“I haven’t seen any zombies around since I left Tucson. I figured they all rotted out in the heat.” Kenny explained.

The red head lowered his shovel to talk less defensively. “That’s mostly true. But there are still plenty persistent ones hunting us, even in the heat.” 

The virus would do that. The lifeless husks of zombies would keep moving, searching for food until they decomposed completely. 

“You’re headed north, aren’t you?” The blue shirt spoke up again. 

“Stan,” The red head hissed.

“Come on, Kyle, it’s been a month since we’ve met anybody new,” Stan huffed at him.

“Dude! It’s the apocalypse! Not a fucking summer camp,” Kyle argued back. 

“This would be a pretty crappy summer camp,” Kenny interjected, using his wit and charming smile in a attempt to win the pair over.

“Stop being funny.” Kyle snapped poking Kenny with the shovel again. 

But it was too late. Kenny had seen the blush, the double take and the way Kyle’s eyes had dropped a layer of defensiveness to look Kenny up and down. 

The blonde tempted boys like Kyle back in high school. Only a year or so ago he’d been breaking hearts, doing drugs and trying to make a quick buck. 

Funny what skills helped you at the end of the world. 

The two boys kept squabbling and Kenny stood between them watching with amusement, knowing that Kyle would be swooning by sunrise.

“What the fuck are you guys doing! It’s been an hour!” A loud, whinging voice carried until it’s owner came into view. 

Kenny hadn’t seen many chubby survivors. There wasn’t enough food or time to rest, in order to retain or gain weight. 

But this guy had to be twice his size. He had brown hair and wore a dark black hoodie over blue jeans. If he was with Stan and Kyle then they must have a good food stash. 

“Who’s this?” The new guy asked, peering at Kenny as if he were some sort of slug in a science room. 

“We just found him,” Stan explained. The brunet frowned, “Well get rid of him. We can’t trust random people in the middle of the desert.” The fat boy moved to take the shovel from Kyle. 

“We’re random people in the middle of the desert,” Stan said and Kenny chuckled. These were some funny fuckers. 

“Stan, that’s my point. If he trusts us this easily then he’s clearly got an evil reason.” The fat boy explained.

“I’m just hungry actually,” Kenny quipped earning another smile from Stan and a side eye from Kyle. 

“Then starve asshole,” The fat boy snarled at him. 

This was when Kyle’s tune changed completely as he stepped between the fat boy and Kenny. “Fuck off Cartman we aren’t gonna kill him.” He batted away the bigger boy. 

Kenny smiled knowing he’d won the group over. “I’d just like some food and water please. Maybe a place to sleep?” He spoke innocently, batting his eye lashes. 

Three set of eyes fell on him. “What? You think we’re gonna wine and dine you?” Cartman scoffed. 

Kyle glared at him the turned back to Kenny. “Come on, ummm, what’s your name?” He trailed off. “I’m Kenny,” The boy smiled, standing up. 

“Yeah, come on Kenny. You can come back to our place.” Kyle said still glaring at Cartman as he started to walk.

“Sweet!” Stan grinned following. “Weak,” Cartman muttered glaring at Kenny. 

They walked quietly through the abandoned sandy streets.

The boys brought Kenny to an old gas station on the other side of the town’s Main Street. Apparently the three of them had been hiding out in the garage, too afraid to venture back out into the desert. 

“It took us a month to walk here from Colorado. We would’ve died if it wasn’t for the well by the fire station.” Stan explained as he unlocked the garage door. 

Cartman pushed Kenny inside the dark, windowless room. The light from the moon outside barley illuminated an inch into black. 

Kyle pushes passed him and walked over and turned a creaky latch, igniting an old oil lantern. 

The room lit up by fire now was revealed to be a very spacious make-do bunker. 

There were old cabinets and a work bench that seamed to be functioning as a kitchen/dinning room, by the far back wall there were pillows, blankets and sleeping bags pushed into a nest like pile, there were bags and boxes with supplies, tools and books. 

Kenny watched as cartman walked over and sat down in an armchair that was surrounded by weapons. Guns, knives and all manner of dangerous devices, including a flame thrower. 

This didn’t surprise Kenny, when the virus broke out, rednecks were the first to fight back the plague with a hail of gunfire. 

Kenny didn’t like guns. He’d been shot too many times to see any appeal in the things. 

He scrunched up his nose in distaste of the fat boys weaponry and went to sit on the work bench. 

“Close your eyes so I can hide this.” Stand spoke. 

He was holding Kenny’s back pack hostage until the group deemed him trust worthy. 

Kenny closed his eyes but not before rolling them dramatically. 

When he opened them Stan had gone to mess around with a map on the bench. 

Cartman was glaring at Kenny while carving a spear out of a broom handle. 

Kyle was standing in the doorway frowning at the sunrise. “I don’t wanna be a dick but I’m really fucking hungry.” Kenny said rubbing his stomach for effect. 

Kyle huffed turning around. “Well it’s sunrise now and because of you we didn’t get any food!” He slammed the door closed and stomped over to the kitchen area. 

Kyle started going through the cabinets angrily. Kenny gave Stan a confused look and Stan shrugged sympathetically. 

“Where would you find food in the desert?” Kenny asked. Cartman grinned and Stans expression turned sour. 

“We’ve been hunting rabbits.” The fat boy chuckled meanly. Stan winced at the words. “Only for survival though.” He added desperation clear in his tone. 

Kenny got the sense the Stan was the type of boy who wouldn’t step on bugs and brought home stray animals. The boy gave off a kind atmosphere that made it clear he didn’t belong in a world claimed by death. 

It was a shame he was so painfully straight. Kenny might’ve tried to get in his pants otherwise, but it was obvious that Stan, if not for Armageddon, would’ve been a husband to some pretty girl and they’d have had a perfect nuclear family in suburbia.

Kyle on the other hand... With each passing minute Kenny began to decode and unpack his story. 

He was Jewish, probably from a strict home considering the way he carried himself. He took after his more maternal parent figure and mothered this group to the extent where he pulled out a can a baked beans and prepared a meal for them all. 

Watching him eat he could tell that Kyle was very fastidious and also not a fan a baked beans.

After diner Kenny helped Kyle dispose of their paper dishes outside. This was when he noticed that despite his red hair, Kyle tanned rather then burned in the sun. 

By the time all the boys were settling down to sleep Kenny had made his final conclusion about Kyle. 

Hours later Kenny sat on the pillows in the corner of the garage watching the three other boys bicker to themselves as if he weren’t there. 

Stan was sitting on the work bench that functioned as their dining table earlier. He was reading the expiration dates on the canned food that was stored in the cardboard box by his side. 

Kyle was sitting by the door writing something in an old brown diary. While he did this he was also arguing with Cartman who was sharpening knives in the corner opposite to Kenny’s. 

“We are running out of food fast Kahl! We need to leave soon!” The fat boy spoke in a whining tone that irritated Kenny’s ears. 

Kyle rolled his eyes marking his page with a scrap of paper before turning to glare at his friend. “We’re safe here for now. We can’t go rushing off when we still have enough supplies to get us through the month! Let me make a plan before you have us walk for days and die of heat stroke!” Kyle argued pragmatically. As if everything he said was a mater of fact. But there was also clear distain in his voice and hatred burning in his eyes towards Cartman. 

“I thought Jews liked wondering the desert!” Cartman sneered and Kyle’s face turned red in rage. 

Kenny was surprised when the red head leaped from his sitting position to charge at the larger boy, hands out ready to strangle him. 

“Don’t belittle my people fat boy!” He growled as the two began to wrestle each other. 

“Guys!” Stan said exasperated before jumping in to try and stop it. Kenny stood up to and went to wrap his arms around Kyle’s waste pulling him off Cartman. Stan kept Cartman pinned to the floor to keep him from throwing another punch. 

The room was now filled with a tense silence. “Fuck you Jew rat.” Cartman spat blood on the floor. 

Kenny felt Kyle tense and tightened his grip.

“Shut up dude! Come on let’s go for a walk and get more water.” It wasn’t a request. Stan was ordering Cartman to leave. 

“Whatever! Screw you guys.” The fat boy stood up and stompted out of the garage. Stan made to follow after him.

“We’ll be back in a bit.” He sighed. “You sure you wanna leave me with just one guard?” Kenny half joked. Stan smirked. “Kyle can obviously take care of himself.” Then he left to follow Cartman.

Only once the garage door closed did Kenny release Kyle from his hold. The red head pushed himself away and stood defensively.

“I fucking hate him.” He glowered at the ground. Kenny sat down on the pillows again and patted the spot next to him.

Kyle reluctantly sat. “If you hate him why stay with him? Shorter groups are safer and I’m sure he doesn’t ad anything to help your survival?” Kenny asked, he’d been curious why two boys as crafty as Stan and Kyle would allow the bigot to stay with them.

Kyle sighed, his look softening. “It’s complicated.” He leaned back against the wall, stretching out his battered limbs and relaxing. “I’ve know Stan and Cartman since pre school. We’ve always been friends...” he trailed off, possibly remembering times before the epidemic. 

Kenny raised an eye brow. “You were always friends with him?” He couldn’t fathom ever willingly being friends with that boy for any reason other than life or death. Even now Kenny found him vial and unnecessary for his survival.

Kyle giggled. “I know, I know, it’s ridiculous but it was a small town and we were all kind of assholes who got into crazy shit and even though I hated him, and still hate him, it was just easier to be his friend.” 

That, Kenny understood. It was difficult for him to find people at his level. In school he was such a trouble maker that very few associated with him. 

“And now,” Kyle continued, “now everything else from my old life is gone. My teachers, my parents, my house, my school, my little brother.”

Kenny’s eyes widened at the last thing listed. “You had a little brother?” He asked with empathy. 

Kyle sighed, and nodded sadly. “My parents adopted him when I was really little. We were always close and I always took care of him. But I wasn’t there when he died. He was only nine years old.” He explained, all the while his eyes looking far off into the distance.

Kenny put a hand on Kyle’s shoulder and squeezed. “My little sister was eleven.” He said. 

Kenny hadn’t spoken about her since the incident and was surprised at his own honesty with Kyle, he was practically a stranger. But he felt he owed Kyle this story, as Kyle had been so honest with him. 

“What happened to her?” Kyle asked meeting Kenny’s gaze. 

“It was about month into the epidemic. My older brother was taking care of us in his apartment in Denver, I went down to the military shelter to get our rations. By the time I got back, my street was blocked off. A family in one of the buildings had spread the virus. My brother and little sister were infected... they were trapped there when the cops started bombing the block. No one in the neighbourhood survived.” 

The story was only half true. But Kyle was in tears starring at Kenny in horror.

Truthfully Kenny hadn’t left the apartment that day. He was there when the virus spread to Keven and he locked himself and Karen in the bath room.

He was holding her tiny, crying form as their infected brother growled and clawed at the door. 

He held her when the explosions went off and he held her burnt corpse when he regenerated and she didn’t. 

“I’m sorry the happened to you.” Kyle said marvelled at Kenny’s half true story. Kenny shook back the feeling to cry along side his new companion. 

“Its not easy. Being a big brother.” Kenny stated, wishing desperately he had a cigarette to ease his troubled mind. 

Kyle nodded. “Haven’t met many people since the three of us left home. I’m glad I met you though, you remind me that humanity still exists.” He said fondly.

Kenny smiled. “You don’t know me, don’t ever be so easy to trust.” He warned. 

Kyle rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t trust anyone in this fucked up world. I don’t trust you... not really. But I do understand you. And that’s enough for me.” 

Kenny gave a half nod in thought to that statement. “I guess understanding someone is a close as you can get to trust now days.” 

“I’m lucky.” Kyle glanced at the door. “I still have my friends. I can trust them.”

“Even Cartman? I’ve know him for about a day man and the only vibe I get from him is psychopath.” 

Kyle laughed. It was a beautiful sound. Full of giggles and snorts. 

“You’re right but I know him well enough. I can read that fat fuckers mind after all these years.” He explained.

Kenny suddenly felt a pain in his chest. He longed for that. Companionship. Something he’d only ever had in his sister. Having no one was a burden on his heart. But the curse he carried made it impossible for him to create lasting friendships. 

He made a mental note not to get too attached to Kyle and his friends. He reminded himself of his goal. To get food, water and maybe a quick fuck. 

Speaking of...

Kenny shifted closer to Kyle. “You are lucky then. I’ve never had friends like that. It was just me and sister for the longest time.” He surprised himself again by speaking truthfully. 

Perhaps it was their shared loss or maybe just the distracting beauty of his eyes but something about Kyle made Kenny a more honest man. Kenny wasn’t sure he liked it. 

“You can stay with us if want. You’ll be on probation for a while obviously but... it’s nice, having someone new around.” Kyle’s words pulled at Kenny’s heart. He ached to say yes, that he wanted to stay and be apart of a team. He was so tired of being alone... 

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t stay and make friends and fall in love with Kyle only to eventually watch them die while he lived on. 

Instead of voicing the inevitable truth he leaned forward connected his and Kyle’s lips. 

This was something he was good at, well practiced in. Seduction was easy and he could leave this boy putty in his hands like he had countless others.

Kyle sighed against his lips and moved to wrap his arms around Kenny’s neck, allowing the blonde to deepen the kiss. 

It was so simple, one might forget the circumstances under which the boys had met. 

With Kyle sitting in his lap, Kenny lowered them down so Kyle was on his back,against the pillows and blankets with Kenny on top of him. 

He kissed his way down the red heads neck, sucking and nippy as he went, electing soft gasps from him. It was heavenly 

Kenny didn’t have time to react when he heard the door open.

In an instant Stan was on top of him, having tackled him to the ground. 

They tumbled around the garage floor before Stan managed to pin him.

“You sick son of a bitch!” Stan snarled.

“Stan!” Kyle gasped.

“What the fuck did you do to him you pervert?” Stan was livid in his anger and Kenny was frozen in shock.

“Stan! Let him go!” Kyle was at the boy’s side, tugging Stan away from Kenny.

Stan turned to his friend protectively. “What did he do to you Kyle? Are you okay? I’m sorry I shouldn’t have left you alone with him I-“ 

“Stan!” Kyle interrupted exasperated. “He didn’t force himself on me.” Kyle looked furious, blushing with embarrassment.

Kenny pushed himself up onto his elbows. Both boys made eye contact with him and he could see Stan trying to connect the dots in his head. 

“He- you- you’re gay?” Was all he came up with. 

Kyle let out a frustrated growl before storming pass them and out of the bunker.

Stan looked completely bewildered when he turned back to Kenny. 

Kenny shrugged with an apologetic smile, he really hadn’t meant to cause so much trouble.


End file.
